


Dance of the Swans

by greygerbil



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26457760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greygerbil/pseuds/greygerbil
Summary: Georgi finds unexpected success in a new career, but he's not used to the feeling yet.
Relationships: Christophe Giacometti/Georgi Popovich, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17
Collections: Anime FF, Rare Ships!!! on BINGO 2020





	Dance of the Swans

**Author's Note:**

> Rare Ships On Bingo prompt was: Success and Failure.

When he walked into the dressing room, Georgi remembered dimly how he’d swallowed his breath in gasps as he bowed to applause that he only heard dulled through his blood pounding in his ears, holding the hands of Princess Siegfried and Rothbart; when he took off his skates with shaking fingers, he was still full of the pain of drowning and the joy of flying.

Originally, he had been asked to audition for the role of the evil wizard Rothbart on the strength of his performance as Carabosse during the last season. However, after Anna Gregorievna, the director of the St. Petersburg State Ballet on Ice, had watched him try out for the part, she had told him to dance to the swan’s introductory allegro moderato as well. Lessons with Lilia tumbled forth from some part of his mind and No. 11, Act 2 blew open like the pages of a dusty book as Georgi did as she asked. By the end of the week, Anna had decided that Siegfried would go to the prima ballerina Sasha, an ice dancer called Aliev who Georgi remembered meeting at Nationals a few times years ago became Rothbart, and he was dancing two swans with glittering skirts that fanned out like tutus when he spun.

When he stumbled out of the dressing room, still giddy with adrenaline, he ran right into Yakov and Lilia, Victor, Yuuri, Mila, even Yuri, who had been in the audience. Chris stood in the back, smiling his languid smile.

“If they’re going to have you do jumps to show off, you need to work on the pre-rotation of the Salchow,” Yakov said while Georgi pulled on his scarf as they walked down the empty hallway. “I didn’t teach you to be sloppy.”

Georgi nodded his head.

“You will first have to fix your legs. A skate boot is no excuse, the lines should be straighter,” Lilia interjected. “I cannot watch this! You were at my ballet camps, what will people say about me? Come by our place, we must correct it.”

“Of course, Lilia Mikhailovna, I will come.”

She had never taught him or even Victor as closely as she had Yuri, but Yakov had drilled into their heads at a young age that when she offered help, they better take it. She was, after all, the best and Georgi was a danseur of some fashion now. He would be happy to glean what he could.

“Why teach him more?” Yuri griped. “He’s an old man, anyway, it’s not like it really matters in a show.”

“Be careful, Yuri. You know how many young skating stars had to resort to ice shows before they turned eighteen because their luck ran out. I wonder, have you grown?” Victor said in a flippantly teasing tone.

“You’re going to be out of competitions soon, too,” Yuri snapped. “I don’t know why you bother with next season.”

“Scared already?” Mila crowed.

Just like that, they were back to bickering about the fight on the ice that Georgi had had to bow out of, with his knees aching and his back protesting after too many falls, too many torn tendons and broken bones. Georgi drifted to the back of the group where Chris waited to put his hand in the pocket of Georgi’s greatcoat as they stepped out onto the street. He always complained about the Russian weather, but he had moved here to train under Yakov and be with Georgi all the same.

“You were great,” he said.

“Thank you. It was a sublime experience. I felt the characters so strongly,” Georgi answered, pressing the hand not curled around Chris’ fingers in his pocket to his heart.

“I think the audience did, too.” Chris said.

He was invariably charming about Georgi’s performance, even at times like when his broken boot had sent him sprawling in the free skate warm-up at the last Europeans, but Georgi was just as predictably filled with warmth that Chris cared enough to flatter him.

“I wonder who comes home with me – Odette or Odile,” Chris added with a smirk.

“We can hear you, Chris,” Yuuri said over his shoulder, smiling awkwardly.

“Oh, please. After everything we had to watch you and Victor do on the ice in front of dozens of cameras, let’s not pretend any of us are shy.”

Yuuri went red; Georgi could see it creeping up the back of his neck even as he hastily turned away.

“Gosha, I don’t know how they managed the cut, but those skirts were cute on you! I wish my free skate costume looked that good, it falls like my grandma’s drapes!” Mila said, making half a pirouette and walking backwards to look at them.

“Where are we going for drinks?” Victor asked.

“Vitya, I hope you haven’t forgotten you are up for jump practice at seven in the morning,” Yakov said with a dangerous glower.

Georgi slid over the rain-wet ground with a smile on his face, still almost dancing.

-

He woke up at ten the next day, the bed still warm next to him. The Ballet had a day off today to recover from opening night and it was Chris’ free day. Last night they had headed for a bar and later fallen into bed together, too tired to check which swan was there to play, but content in each other’s arms.

Chris’ cat Bae streaked about Georgi’s feet as he entered the kitchen, which smelled like coffee and black tea, the latter of which Chris didn’t drink, but always prepared for Georgi. Chris sat at the table with a plate of toast and scrambled eggs.

“How did you sleep, little bird?”

“Very well. What about you?”

Georgi sidled up next to Chris, silently begging beg for a kiss that was freely given. Chris tugged him down to have Georgi sit on his thigh. Though they had been together since last December, nine months now, and Chris had moved here in May, Georgi still felt like every touch was a novelty even and perhaps because Chris was so generous with them. His presence had made the unpleasant move away from competitive skating much more bearable.

“Fine. Have you looked at your phone yet?”

Chris’ voice was expectant. Georgi had carried his phone from the bedside table with him and had abandoned it next to the tea cup, but dragged it closer again at the comment. When he gave Chris a questioning look, Chris just smiled.

Next to the instagram icon was an alert for hundreds of new mentions and messages. As he opened it, he found himself tagged in several phone videos recorded last night. They were not allowed, of course, but also inevitable, and he was used to people recording parts of his skates, anyway. It had never been such a deluge after he had been on the ice for a competition, though. Those couldn’t just be the handful of die-hard fans he’d accumulated over his career who had stayed with him after retirement.

“Did I make a mistake?” he asked.

He didn’t remember anything egregious and as a former competitor, he still had an imaginary score board running in his head no matter how much he lost himself to the skate. Last night had been a particular rush, though.

“Read,” Chris said through a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

Apprehensive, Georgi scrolled down to the descriptions and comments. The last time he had been tagged in such a flurry of pictures, it had been people discussing a similar jump pass Victor and him had performed at Worlds and detailing all the ways Victor had surpassed him, complete with MS paint tracings of their scratches on the ice and pencilled-in approximations of their take-off angles.

However, this time it was mostly happy emojis, hearts, surprise, shock. One video in particular had been liked by thousands of people. Georgi tapped into it at random points to find that someone had put two videos of the solos of Odile and Odette back to back.

 **moskowpat** saw the videos of @GPopovich from last night and figured I would make this for comparison. incredible range!

“Looks like you went a little viral,” Chris said, pushing his own phone over at Georgi. “They picked up your videos on a few websites, too. I also found a couple articles from theatre critics and if my bad Russian doesn’t betray me, they’re in love with you as well.”

A surge of excitement rushed through Georgi. It seemed unreal. When the performance was over, nothing had felt different from usual, with his coach and rink team around him, acting much the way they always had. The fact that there was such a wildly different reception made him both proud and nervous.

“What?” Chris asked, looking at him. “I thought you’d be happy.”

“I am, it’s just – strange.” Georgi lowered his phone. “You’re the star at home, even with Victor around. I never was. Every time I tried to tell myself I could do it, I failed. I didn’t think anyone was paying attention anymore. I’m out of the race.” A thought that hurt more than he had tried to show anyone; and perhaps one that had made it easier to throw himself deeply into characters who experienced so much heartbreak and so much envy respectively. “I just wanted to dance Odette and Odile. Do I not have to want it for it to be good?” He frowned. “That’s not going to happen twice now that I know.”

“This is new, it’s even different from most ice shows. Maybe you’re just good at it. Wouldn’t that make sense for an _artiste_ like you?”

Georgi raised a brow at the sarcastic tone, but Chris’ compliment soothed him. “Well...” He smiled. “I will enjoy it until Victor retires.”

“And does what?” Chris put his phone aside. “Why do you think he would be better at this than you?”

“Victor can be anything on ice,” Georgi said with a shrug.

“No, he never connected to a story like you.” Chris grinned. “I don’t think many people do...”

“And he didn’t need to,” Georgi said flatly.

“Not in a figure skating competition. This is different.”

Georgi tried for a smile. Of course his boyfriend would have to say that.

Chris looked at him for a moment before he broke out into laughter.

“You’re traumatised,” he said.

“No, I’m not. Victor is not _that_ important,” Georgi said with a downward twist of his mouth.

He knew, though, that Chris was right. It was hard to escape that old, familiar shadow when he was on the ice in blades, even if it was a different sort of rink; and yet, on the ice was where he needed to be. Victor had staked his claim there, but Georgi lived for it, too.

“Victor is your Odile,” Chris joked.

“No,” Georgi sighed, leaning back against Chris. “If anything, he’s Odette.”

“How so?”

Georgi extracted himself from Chris’ loose grip to stand. “Odette just _is_ ,” he said sternly, indicating the light, half-human, wing-like gesture of the arms with which he had portrayed her last night. “Her grace must be intrinsic. She fascinates because there is a light inside of her, not because she wants to. She spends half the time on stage dancing away when she meets the prince and yet he runs after her.” He whirled around to grab Chris’ shoulders from behind, digging his nails into them. “Whereas Odile... she does win the prince for an evening, but he rather follows Odette into death in the end. Perhaps Odile never planned to keep him – but I also think she knows that she can’t. She already had to disguise herself as Odette to even have a chance. She can’t be timid like Odette, either. Unlike her, Odile risks not being followed.”

Chris made a thoughtful noise as he raised his hands to Georgi’s wrists. When he glanced over his shoulder, Georgi was surprised to find the look on his face honestly impressed. It was, somehow, more immediate than his sweet words about Georgi’s interpretation, though Georgi appreciated them. People had often teased him about his theatrics on the ice, Chris including, though in his best skates Georgi had reached out to the audience with them. Perhaps there was something to be said for the fact that his mind fit this sort of skating well; that not hitting an arbitrary amount of certain elements dictated by scores and rules allowed him to smooth out a program even when he did still jump and spin like he had learned. It was not that he hadn’t known he had strengths, he’d just stopped believing that they mattered; and so they had ceased being strengths and become irrelevant.

Georgi grinned and as Chris saw it he smiled.

“Well, I’ll definitely be there for tomorrow’s show as well,” Chris said. “I want to see more of your Odette and Odile. But there’s another idea I had...”

Georgi cocked his head as Chris tapped his phone again and pulled up the Odile pas de deux with Princess Siegfried.

“Siegfried – Sasha, yes? She’s a great dancer, but I admit I was jealous of her. Watching you do Odette and Odile, I wanted to go swan hunting, too.” He smiled. “You said you may be able to come to some of my events this season. I have a gala program, but I have time to learn another. Do you think we could do the prince and the swans? We could have our own choreography.”

Georgi’s heart lifted. Chris had come to Russia for him, so he really shouldn’t wonder about whether he intended to keep Georgi, but after Anya’s abrupt departure had taken him so much by surprise, he did not trust his own opinion like he used to. That Chris had gotten inspired to dance by watching him meant a lot.

“You hate the war horses. You’ll dance to something from _Swan Lake_ on purpose?” he asked, smiling.

“Only for one special person. Well, technically two, in this case. Maybe you can have one of those costumes that folds over to a different colour.” Chris smiled. “Think of the bragging rights if I get the debut star of the St. Petersburg State Ballet on Ice on the rink with me.”

Georgi raised his brows, but decided not to argue for once and instead enjoy the moment. If people would be excited to see them together, he would like that. He wanted to make Chris shine, not appear as the retired hanger-on. It was a great reason to make sure that his next performance would gather just as much applause.

“If you want exhibition skates, you need medals, though,” he said, playfully sliding his arms around Chris’ neck from behind.

“Nothing less than gold ones,” Chris said. “I can’t fall behind now.”


End file.
